Contest Brings Hope and Awareness to Millions of Couples Struggling With
Infertility
PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrating
National Infertility Awareness Week, April 22-28, 2012, Ferring Pharmaceuticals is honoring three lucky families
who won its national 2011
My Little Miracle Essay Contest for their heart-warming and inspirational stories about
their journey to parenthood. The contest celebrates the birth of children
who were conceived using Ferring's MENOPUR®(menotropins for injection,
USP) and/or BRAVELLE® (urofollitropin for injection, purified). Each
of the three contest winners receives an education fund to support their
child's future.
The 2011 grand prize winner, Kathryn Hale of St. Petersburg, FL, received
a $10,000 education fund for her twin sons. After struggling with infertility
for two years, Kathryn and her husband Brian's dreams of parenthood
were nearly over. However, with the help of reproductive endocrinologist,
Jim Toner, MD and his staff at
Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine and Ferring fertility treatments, they are now the proud parents of two
little miracles.
"My husband and I were overjoyed to learn that we were the grand
prize winner of this year's
My Little Miracle essay contest," said Kathryn. "With so many families struggling
to conceive, we hope our story conveys a sincere message of hope, to believe
in your dreams of parenthood, and to never give up. We are incredibly
blessed to have amazing twin boys and now a head start on their education,
both thanks to Ferring."
"We received so many heartwarming, inspirational stories that it
was hard to choose a winner," said Joy Lewin, Business Unit Head,
Reproductive Health, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. "Kathryn and Brian's
story of overcoming the challenges that couples face when undergoing
in vitro fertilization (IVF) and their unrelenting determination to have a baby, had a wonderful,
twofold ending. We are delighted that our treatments played a role in
their success and that we were able to share their story of hope during
National Infertility Awareness Week."
The second-place contest winner, Laura Capps of Washington, D.C., received
an education fund of $7,500, and the third-place winner, Christine Nagel
of Bethel Park, PA, won a $5,000 education fund.
Kathryn's Story
Kathryn and her husband Brian met on a blind date in 2004 and just a year
and a day later, they were married and eager to start a family. After
six unsuccessful months of trying to conceive naturally, Kathryn knew
something wasn't right. With a reproductive endocrinology nurse as
her best friend, she knew that the next step was to make an appointment
with a reproductive endocrinologist. After normal results from a round
of tests and examinations, Kathryn's doctor suggested that she undergo
intrauterine inseminations (IUIs). Unfortunately, after three failed IUIs,
followed by one failed IVF cycle, and a doctor who said it was likely
that all future IVF cycles would be a failure, Kathryn and Brian's
world went black.
After a few months of soul-searching and trying to determine a path to
parenthood, Kathryn felt deep down inside that her best friend and nurse
at Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine, was going to help make parenthood
a reality. Therefore, under the care of her reproductive medicine team
at Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine, Kathryn tried IVF for the
second time. She used MENOPUR and BRAVELLE which resulted in more than
20 healthy, viable eggs. On her grandparent's wedding anniversary,
two blastocysts were transferred into Kathryn's uterus and less than
nine months after receiving the much-anticipated news from her best friend
that "you're going to have a baby," the couple gave birth
to twin boys, Jameson and Walker.
"No matter how difficult our journey was to parenthood, we are infinitely
blessed with the gift of being parents to Jameson and Walker," wrote
Kathryn. "Our story has a happy ending and one that has guaranteed
that my smile is at least one inch wider now, making even the hardest
parts of our journey cherished."